"With practice, it will become easier and more effortless. You are a quick study, you'll get there in no time." he reassured me with a smile.

I grinned up at him from where I was crouched, hands on my knees, breathing heavily trying to catch my breath.

"That's enough for today. Go eat and get some rest," he ordered, leaving me alone in the room.

I collapsed back down on the floor, sprawled out, staring at the now, darkening sky. I closed my eyes, enjoying the silence and the stillness of it all. Feeling rejuvenated, I crawled up after a few minutes and began to walk out. I was starving. Every bone in my body ached for nourishment. A smile began to form on my face as I considered using my vampire speed to get to the Cafeteria faster. It would not only be good practice, but also get me there faster. I closed my eyes focusing on the Cafeteria, which wasn't hard since I was already starving. I opened my eyes to find myself standing before it, having arrived. My heart was pounding in my chest from the journey but I didn't care. It worked. I was here. I walked towards the food like a zombie, grabbing as much as I could, piling it on a platter. I looked around before snatching a blood bag and throwing it on the platter as well. No need to deny myself when nobody I knew was around.

I collapsed at a nearby table devouring the human food first, hungrily. I exhaled heavily between bites, not allowing myself time to breath from how fast I was eating.

"Hungry?"

I groaned at Zion's voice. Why did he always appear at the worst times?

"Go away." I mumbled, continuing to devour the food before me. He settled himself comfortably across from me watching me eat like a wild animal.

"Enjoying yourself?"

"Very much so," he replied, crossing his arms on the table.

Noticing the blood bag, he held it up, cocking his head in a questioning manner. Remembering the blood bag, I quickly saved myself by saying, "Just in case you showed."

With a touched expression on his face, he tore open the blood bag and downed it. I watched him in envy, wishing it was me who downed the blood bag. If only he knew.

After finishing the feast that I had prepared for myself, I wiped my mouth before straightening up to ask, "Who was that girl you were talking to?"

"What girl?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"In White. Around 3:00," I replied, looking away quickly once I realized how creepy I sounded.

"Jealous?" he asked, taunting me, amused.

"No, I don't care who you talk to." I said coldly, shoving my feelings down my throat.

"Then why did you ask?" he said, searching my eyes for the truth.

"Just curious." I replied nonchalantly before pulling out my phone to find more missed texts from Tom.

Are you okay?

??

I immediately felt horrible. I had been so caught up in the day, I forgot to reply. I quickly texted him back.

I'm fine. So sorry. Got caught up in class.

Scowling, Zion snatched the phone out of my hand, reading the texts.

"Hey!" I yelled, snatching the phone out of his hand while glaring at him angrily.

"Who's Tom?"

"Who's that girl?" I snapped back. When I was met with silence, I stated, "That's what I thought."

I got up from the table to walk out of the Cafeteria. I started walking quickly out, sensing Zion still on my tail.

"Don't you have anything better to do than follow me?" I snapped at him with my back still turned.

"Saron!!!!" I heard Star's voice yell as she ran up to me knocking the breath out of me as she wrapped me up in a hug.

I continued to glare at Zion over her shoulder before she let go. "We missed you!" she exclaimed. I looked beside her to notice Joel and Tom also with her and smiled at them both.

Acknowledging Zion, she stuck out her hand and said, "Hey, I'm Star, her best friend. And you are?"

"Zion," he muttered, shaking her hand without taking his eyes off of me for one second.

"Joel. And this is Tom" Joel introduced, gesturing at Tom who was eying Zion silently with a grim expression.

"You can go now." I said to Zion before turning my attention to Star.

"Saron," Zion pleaded.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore, Zion." I answered, annoyed.

With a smile, he turned to Star and said, "Nice to meet you." before redirecting his attention at me. The tension between us all was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"I'll find you later." he whispered in my ear before storming off.

Looking at me for an explanation, I told Star I'd tell her later not wanting to elaborate.

"Are you guys hungry?" I asked.

"No, we came looking for you," replied Joel.

"Well you found me." I replied, smiling happily, touched they went out of their way to look for me.

"Lets head back." Tom offered, avoiding my gaze before walking ahead.

"Okay!" replied Star, chatting away with Joel.

I ran ahead to catch up with Tom who slowed down once he noticed me.

"Hey, I'm really sorry about not replying. I got caught up in class and wasn't on my phone then I was training with-" I stopped myself from rambling on further to find Tom staring at me, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's fine, it's not that."

"What's wrong?"

"Is everything alright?" he asked, clearly hinting at me and Zion's interaction.

"Of course. Why do you say that?" I asked with a nervous smile.

"No reason," he replied, quickly catching the hint and dropping the subject.

I looked away, ignoring his curious gaze boring into the side of my face.

"I appreciate the concern but I'm fine, really." I replied, squeezing his arm with a smile.

"Okay, good." he breathed out after letting out a sigh of relief.

"So, how was class?" I asked, eagerly.

"Boring."

"Really?"

"Everything's funner when you're a first year. After that it's just a routine of the same things."

"I can't imagine this ever getting old."

"In a way you're lucky. You grew up without magic or any of this. This is a brand new world to you. For the rest of us, it's nothing new. It's what we've known all our lives so it doesn't affect us anymore."

I pondered what he said before replying, "I never thought of it that way. I always thought I was unlucky for being 5 steps behind everyone else."

"I wish this was all new to me. Maybe it'd be more exciting. The most exciting part of my year has been meeting you." he blurted out causing me to turn to look at him.

"And Star." he quickly corrected, clearing his throat.

"We're here." I announced, turning around to Joel and Star.

"Whooo!" Star cheered.

I turned back around, walking into our wing. I'd never been so happy to return back after a long day. I wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed and never wake up.

"I'm going to bed, I'll see you guys tomorrow." I said looking at Tom and Joel.

"Goodnight." Joel said to Star and me.

"Night." Tom said looking at me.

I turned around and headed to our section, with a stumbling Star on my arm.

I quickly got my things, showered and returned. I jumped into bed and buried myself under the covers. I closed my eyes in an effort to sleep but was unable to fall asleep. I peeked over the covers at Star, who was fast asleep and snoring away.

My mind drifted to Zion. I hate how we left things. I couldn't help but wonder who that girl was. All of the sudden, an idea popped into my head. As an Angel, I could hop into his dreams, could I not? I never had the chance to ask how but it couldn't be too hard. I briefly considered texting Tom or Joel to ask but decided against it. They might be asleep. I shouldn't wake them. I closed my eyes and imagined Zion in my head. How would I go about doing this? My mind raced with possibilities. I tried each one that came to mind, striking out at each turn. Imagining him didn't work. Imagining him sleeping didn't work. Calling out to him didn't work. Waiting for him to call out to me definitely didn't work.

Wait! Another idea came to mind. I searched deep in my mind and found the door I had opened to find my wings. Maybe there was something behind it that could help me. Sadly, I found no other doors to open. Maybe if I looked harder, one would appear. Wait! That's it. Maybe it wasn't a door at all. I looked around carefully and found a box behind the door. I carefully opened it. As soon as the box was opened, I felt a part of me open up as well. I then found another door that appeared after I opened the box.

I walked in. The room was empty. It was a small, dull, normal looking room. I reached out to Zion with all that I had, envisioning him in my mind. I heard someone walk into the room. I turned around slowly, bracing myself, not knowing what to expect. To my delight, it was Zion. It worked!!!! It took everything in me not to scream.

"I was wondering when you'd come. I've been waiting for you."

"You were?"

"Of course I was." he said, stepping towards me.

"So...about earlier."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, fiddling with his hands as if he yearned to reach out to me. Or maybe he was just nervous. The pull I felt whenever he was around terrified me. I'd never felt anything like it and I didn't understand what it meant.

Ignoring every bone in my body telling me to jump into his arms, I stepped back. Despite my whole being trying to pull me towards him, I wasn't going to be so trusting. After all, I barely knew him.

"Tom is just a friend." I assured him.

"The girl you saw was in my class. I was practicing with her and she asked me for tips. I was giving her a few pointers."

"Tell me about you."

"What do you want to know?" he said stepping towards me. Sensing him nearing me, I turned around to face him.

"Everything." I whispered before walking around him to position myself on the opposite wall, placing more distance between us.

"That would take all night. You have class in the morning. You need your rest."

"I don't care. I want to know."

"Not today," he replied, shaking his head.

"Why not?" I implored.

"Goodnight Saron." he replied, walking out before I could reply. Did he just kick me out of his head? I walked out of the room, closing it behind me and leaving my mind to rest.

After talking to Zion, I felt satisfied despite him leaving me with a handful of questions. I shut my eyes and fell asleep.

I woke up to the alarm blaring, once again. Learning my lesson I jumped over instantly to snatch Star's phone. To my surprise, Star reached out from under the covers, grabbing her phone and stopping it before I could get there.